LONG LIVE SUPER DUPE!!

:mccosky:


Sammy cut

Well, Joe Dumars pulled a fast one. All indications were that Ron Dupree was going to be the odd man out. Instead, the Pistons waived rookie Sammy Mejia today to get the roster to the 15-man limit. The Pistons were about $500,000 below the luxury tax limit, so eating Dupree's $825,000 may have been more problematic than we thought. I, for one, am glad Dupree survived.

Jarvis Hayes tweaked his ankle this morning and sat out a long stretch of practice. But, he was one of the last players off the court, going through his usual shooting drills and looking as healthy as ever. He was jumping and landing on both feet without any difficulty, so he should be fine.

Rookie Rodney Stuckey was doing rehab work with Arnie Kander today, holding a miniature football in his broken left hand through the entire session. The holding and squeezing of the football helps strengthen the hand, which was broken in three spots in the final exhibition game. Stuckey's spirits are remarkably high, which shouldn't be surprising. The kid is pretty much unflappable, as far as I can tell.

Flip Saunders said today that he would probably start the season with a nine or 10-man rotation. He said Lindsey Hunter would have to play some, probably in two or three-minute stints. Amir Johnson probably won't play much in the first two games (against bigger teams Miami and Orlando), but could start getting worked into the mix after that.

Saunders also offered a little postscript to Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor's rant the other day. If you remember, Taylor said that Saunders wanted to quit (in 2004-2005), Kevin McHale talked him into staying. Then, Taylor said that he offered Flip a front office job after he fired him. Taylor, Saunders said, actually offered him the coaching job again at the end of the 2004-2005, after he had been fired in the middle of that season. How about that?

I guess you could say that Sammy is not Mejia anymore.

:langlois:


Cutdown Day
by Keith Langlois

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. – The Pistons got down to the 15-man roster limit at Monday’s deadline by waiving rookie Sammy Mejia, something of a surprise since they signed him to a partially guaranteed contract after his performance in the Las Vegas Summer League.

Mejia, a 2007 second-round draft choice out of DePaul, lost out in his battle for the final roster spot with veteran Ronald Dupree.

The waiving of Mejia means the Pistons will carry three rookies on the roster – first-round picks Rodney Stuckey and Arron Afflalo and Senegalese center Cheikh Samb, a 2006 second-round choice who spent last season playing professionally in Spain.

Mejia’s chance to stick on the final roster took a hit in August when the Pistons spotted an opening to strengthen themselves at small forward after Washington decided not to exercise its option on four-year veteran Jarvis Hayes.

Hayes had a strong preseason, leading the team in scoring at 13.6 points a game and shooting 44 percent from behind the 3-point line. He’s first in line for minutes behind Tayshaun Prince at small forward – the job Dupree had hoped to win when the Pistons traded Carlos Delfino to Toronto in June.

In addition to Hayes, the Pistons believe Afflalo is capable of backing up Prince, which made it a two-man fight for the last spot between Mejia and Dupree.

Dupree, 26, played for the Pistons in 2004-05 before being traded to Minnesota for a second-round draft pick that Detroit is due to collect for the 2008 draft. When the Timberwolves let him go following that season, he signed with the Pistons prior to the 2006-07 season. He played a total of 94 minutes in 19 games last season.

The 6-foot-7 Dupree went undrafted out of LSU but hooked on with the Chicago Bulls, playing 47 games in 2003-04 and making the only eight starts of his NBA career. Regarded as a strong perimeter defender, Dupree’s shortcoming has been the lack of a reliable jump shot.

Mejia, 24, was the 57th overall pick in June’s draft. In six preseason games, he averaged 1.7 points and 2.2 rebounds, shooting 23.5 percent.


See ya, Stanley.

interesting...I suspected that there being 2 rookies in the NBA from DePaul would be a bit much...Jerry Wainwright can't be that bad of coach when given 2 NBA players at a mid-major school...right?

I, for one, am glad Dupree survived.

Translation - I still want to have access to Durpee so I'm on my knees as I write this.

^that is not objective journalism.

McCosky could learn a thing or two from Keith Langlois.

Now, let's go live to Ronald Dupree for a reaction to the news that he still gets to travel and eat all fancy-like...









http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v496/realgm/Dupree12copy.jpg
Hells yeah!

Over Under minutes Dupree plays this season


12.5


put that in the next sportsbook

i guess k-stat can stop revising the speach he ghost wrote for sammy looking forward to his piston jersey retirement ceremony.

if depaul had two nba players on its roster i would have never watched a basketball game again, because from the game i saw it wasnt even close.

Samb must be disappointed.

so long, Stanley.

Dont have any opinion on Stanley positive or negative.

However, Ronald Dupree sucks.

So that leaves Samb, Afflalo and Stuckey as the only NBDL-eligible players on the roster.

And that Zack Minor too, I think.

And that Zack Minor too, I think.
Quality.

And that Zack Minor too, I think.
I hear once they find out where to play him, he's going to dominate!

Dont have any opinion on Stanley positive or negative.

However, Flip Murray sucks.